Device for nailing slats on to cable drums



' June 21, 1966 E. TOURNERY DEVICE FOR NAILING SLATS ON TO CABLE DRUMS 2 Sheets-Sheer. 1

Filed Sept. 19, 1963 FIG. I

FIG. 2

INVENTOR ELie. Eur-Ine t:

ATTORNEY I June 21, 1966 E. TOURNERY 3,257,058

DEVICE FOR NAILING SLATS ON TO CABLE DRUMS Filed Sept. 19, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR FLie Burners ATTORNEY United States Patent 0 v 8 Claims. for. 227-7 The invention relates to a device for nailing slats to drums loaded with cable.

To transport or handle electric cables, drums, generally of wood, are used on which the cables are Wound. To protect the cable on a drum, woodenlaths constituting slats are nailed around the peripheries of the side plates of the drum. The work of nailing the slats is generally done manually, the'nails being hammered in, which uses a lot of manpower and increases the time taken to make up the'drum. Moreover, the result is not always uniform in quality or in the protection given to the cable. I An attempt has been made to improve this na1l1ng operation using a pneumatic nailing hammer, but this requires skilled operators and does not increase the output.

The invention makes it possible to remove these drawbacks. It consists of a semi-automatic device for nailing protecting slats and safety strips onto a drum loaded with cable, in which the drum, when placed ontwo supports of which at least one is adjustable so as to adjust the spacing between the supports, turns about its axis with an intermittent rotational movement imparted by a wheel w1th a pneumatic tire resting on one side of the drum and connected to an electric motor.

This device is worked by a simple manipulation of the slats, either by fewer and unskilled operators or with an automatic guide means for the slats. The output 15 increased to at least twelve times that obtained by the older method.

The inventionwill now be described with reference, by way of example only, to an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of he slatting device;

FIGURE 2 is a plan View of the device;

FIGURE 3 is an elevational view of the automatic control arrangement; and

FIGURES 4, 5, and 6 are the elevational v1ew, front view, and plan view of the arrangement for supporting and centering the drum and for compensating any warping of the drum sides.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2, the drum includes two side plates I mounted on a shaft 6 on which is coiled a cable 52. The slats nailed to the side plates 1 are shown by reference numeral 2. The drum is initially pulled by any conventional means, such as a cable arrangement onto a lifting arrangement comprising two supports 4 for the shaft 6. The cable arrangement may include for example, as shown in FIGURE 1, a drum 3 carrying a cable 36, supporting arms 36d and 36c, a spring 36b and a tensioning member 36a. The drum having side plates 1 bears on the tensioning member 36a which is rotatably mounted about its lower end; member 36a, held against the drum by means of the spring 36b, has at its upper end guiding means for guiding the rope or cable 36. One end of this rope or cable is secured to the shaft 6 while the other end is coiled around drum 3 driven by suitable means, such as a motor, not shown in the figure. One of the supports 4 is adjustable in any conventional manner so as to vary the distance between the supports according to the width of the drum. The shaft 6 rests on supporting devices associated with each of the supports 4, including rollers 8, slide blocks 7, and arms- 26. Referring to FIGURE 1, slide block 7 of the sup- Patented June 21, 1966 porting device is secured to the movable cylinder 5 of a jack forming a part of the supports 4; supports 4 may include a U-shaped frame having three parts 38, 39 and 40. The jack includes a cylinder 5 slidably mounted on a piston (not shown) mounted on a piston rod 41. Piston rod 41 extends through the cylinder and is secured by one of its ends to element 39 and by the other end to a fixed part such as the floor. The cable arrangement and the lifting arrangement operate as follows: the drum is rolled on the floor and is positioned in front of the supports 4, the shaft 6 being perpendicular to the line XY (FIGURE 2). Ropes or cables 36 are then secured to each end of the shaft and by coiling the cable on the drum 3 the drum 1 is pulled until the shaft 6 is situated above the supporting devices of the supports 4. The cylinder 5 of the jack is then supplied with fluid and the drum is lifted in such a manner that shaft 6 rises to the level of the nailers 10, which will be described hereinafter. The supporting device is shown, in detail, in FIGURES 4, 5, and 6: shaft 6 rests on the rollers 8 rotatably mounted on respective axles secured to sidewalls of a table 23 which is movable horizontally relative to the slide blocks 7 by rolling on roller bearings 24. The table 23 has an arm 35 secured thereto and connected to a center point of two springs 25 secured between two arms 26 provided on the slide block 7, the block 7 being rigidly secured tothe movable cylinder 5 of the jack. The arms 26 hold the shaft or a roller 29 in such a manner that it can absorb and stop the shock of the shaft 6 if the latter is moved toward this roller 29.

The device of the invention further includes a wheel having a pneumatic tire 15, driven by a motor 14 and arranged to rest on a portion near the periphery of one of the drum side plates 1 so as to drive the drum by frictional engagement with the drum side plate 1. A reaction wheel 16 and a slat positioning means or stop 17 are provided on the other side of the drum, symmetrically relative to the axis XY (FIGURE 2 the stop 17 beiing arranged so as to prevent the slat from projecting laterally from the side of the drum.

Furthermore, the device of the invention comprises two supports 9 holding, respecively, two automatic nailers 10 including an automatic nail feed, two safety strip feeding means 13, and various controlling and regulating means including the above-mentioned motor 14.

The nailer 10 includes a piston arrangement 37 for receiving the nails and for driving the nails into the side plate 1 through a slat 2 positioned against the edge of the side plate. The piston arrangement may be operatively connected to a screw-jack (not shown) and is driven by a motor 56. Such a nailing device is known, per se,

for example, in French Patent 1,189,111, and forms by itself no part of the present invention. This device has been described. only as an example to help in understanding the invention, and it is pointed out that any known automatic nailing device or equivalent can be used in combination with the elements of the device of the present invention. The nailing device is supposed to be electrically controlled and is able to drive in, for example, four nails at a time, two at each end of a slat.

Each of the previously recited supports 9 is adjustable in the horizontal direction according to the dimensions of the drum, by means schematically represented, for example, by a spindle bolt 27 secured freely rotatably to a collar 42 rigidly connected with a fixed part such as the floor, and screwed into a suitable portion of the support 9.

The device also includes two safety strip feeding means which'can be secured, for example, to the supports 9. The safety strip feeding means include a shaft 50 supporting a freely rotatable spool 13 around which is coiled a safety strip 12. The safety strip 12 rolls out the spool 13, passes between rollers 49, and then is fixed to the slats by means of the same nails as those used to nail the slats to the side plates 1.

A further arrangement, represented schematically in FIGURE 2 by the control element 18, will be described in detail with reference to FIGURE 3 wherein reference numeral 1 indicates one of the drum side plates, 2 and 2a two slats placed against the edge of the drum side plates supplied in any suitable manner by hand or by means of any automatic or semi-automatic feeding means of known type.

The arrangement 18 comprises a follower 20 secured at the end of piston 31 movable in a cylinder 30 against the action of a spring 32 bearing against the bottom of the cylinder 30. A rod, forming an extension of the piston 31, extends through the bottom of the cylinder 38 and is secured to a shaft of an eccentric 22. The camming surface of the eccentric 22 bears against the outer surface of the bottom of the cylinder 32. Upon actuation of a lever 28, the eccentric 22 pulls the rod of piston 31 toward the left, thus displacing the latter to a position where the follower 20 is no longer in contact with the slat 2. The arrangement 18 comprises also an electric contactor 19 and a lever 21 freely rotatable about a fixed shaft 53. A roller 33 is mounted at the other end of the lever 21, and a spring 51 holds the lever 21 so that the roller follows the profile of the slats such as 2 or 2a in FIGURE 3. The lever 21 is connected with a triggering rod 34 of the contactor 12. The piston 31 is connected with a rod 44 of the contactor 19, operable to displace the working point of the contactor according to any accidental variation of the radius of the sides of the drum or of the thickness of the slats.

A first slat 2 to be nailed to the drum is placed into position and nailed either by hand or by an automatic device with the aid of removable supports (not shown). The slats and the safety strip are nailed to the side plates 1 of the drum when the drum has been stopped in its rotation about the shaft 6. Therefore, in order to nail each slat, an intermittent rotating movement has to be imparted to the drum. However, the slats are made of various qualities of wood and inevitably vary in width. To insure that nailing is done correctly, the angular deviation of the rotating movement imparted to the drum must be variable and must be a function of the width of the slat which is to be nailed on next.

This is achieved by means of the arrangement 18 which works as follows: The lever 28 is acted on to bring the follower 20 in contact with the slat 2. The follower is used as an automatic compensating device displacing the working point of the contactor should the sides of the drum vary in radius or the slats vary in thickness. The first slat 2 having been nailed, the arrangement has the position shown in FIGURE 3; that is, the roller 33 does not bear on the slat 2 and under the action of the spring 51, the lever 21 is in a position which might be called forward position toward the drum.

A new slat 2a is then inserted either by an automatic means (not shown) or by hand. This slat 2a is stopped laterally by the stop 17 and following the curve of the drum side plates in its movement toward slat 2 acts'on the roller 33, moving thereby the lever 21 to a rear position. Lever 21, which is connected with the contactor triggering rod 34-, actuates the contactor 19 which closes the conventional control circuits (not shown) of the motor 14 driving the drum by means of the wheel tire 15. The drum rotates until the roller, following the profile of the slat, reaches again the edges of the slat and drops into the forward position toward the drums. Then lever 21, acting on the triggering rod 34, actuates the contactor 19 to stop the motor 14, driving the drum, and to close the control circuit of the motor 56 driving the nailer. The slat 2a having been nailed to the side plates 1, the cycle is repeated by inserting another slat. This operation continues until all but the last slat has been nailed. Since the follower 20 will not properly control nailing of the last slat, this slat is then nailed by hand.

The safety strips 12 are nailed on at the same time as the first slat, and the movement of the drum unwinds the safety strips from the spools 13, the strips being guided by means of the rollers 49.

When the last slat has been nailed on, the arrangement 18 is moved back by means of the eccentric 22 acted on by the lever 28.

During the nailing of the slats, the drum having been stopped in its movement, it is necessary to provide a lateral holding .of the shaft 6 for absorbing the shock of the nailer against the drum. This is achieved by means of the rollers 29 of the supporting device described with reference to FIGURES 4, 5, and 6. v

In this supporting device, with the table 23 mounted on roller bearings, the drum can be moved sideways in order to adjust its side-plates 1 so that they areopposite the nailers. This movement is stopped when one of the sides comes to bear on the reaction wheel 16. If the shaft hole in one of the drum side plates is slightly off-center, the drum will turn in a false circle. Under the influence of the tire 15 and the reaction wheel 16, the drum side plates are held in position opposite the nailers, while the shaft 6 is a floating shaft capable of moving by roll ingon said roller bearings on the right or on the left of its normal position which is determined by the tightening of the springs 25 (FIGURES 4 and 6.)

While I have shown and described one embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it is understood that the same is not limited thereto but is susceptible of numerous changes and modifications as known to a person skilled in the art; and I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the details shown and described herein but intend to cover all such changes and modifications as are encompassed by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is: 1. A semi-automatic device, for nailing slats and safety strips onto a drum having a plurality of essentially circular side plates, each side plate having an annular edge and being centered and rigidly mounted on an essentially cylindrical shaft, comprising.

two supports for supporting said drum with the shaft thereof in a substantially horizontal position including roller means for supporting said shaft, holding means for holding said roller means, jack means operatively connected with said holding means to adjust the height of said holding means, 1

driving means for rotating said drum about said shaft, including pneumatic tire wheel means positioned on a side of said drum and operable to frictionally en gage with said side plates and a first electric motor for driving said tire wheel means,

nailing means positioned adjacent the annular edge of each of said side plates including a second electric motor and operable to drive nails radially onto the edge of said side plates,

slat positioning means operable to guide said slats into position close to the edge of said side plates, between said nailing means and said side plates,

means for supplying safety strips against the outer surface of said slats opposite the edge of said side plates, automatic control means for automatically controlling said driving means and said nailing means including contactor means operatively connected with said first and second electric motors and having follower means following the profile of each slat positioned by said positioning means, said follower means including a lever, roller means secured to said lever, and a triggering rod mechanically connected to said lever, said automatic control means being reprising further roller means provided on the side of the drum opposite to said pneumatic tire wheel means and operable to guide the drum in such a manner that the edge of the side plates is continually positioned in front of said automatic nailing means, said holding means of the first adjustable supporting means including a table, a slide block, means including roller bearings for mounting said table on said slide block, the axes of said roller bearings being perpendicular to the direction of said shaft, said slide block being secured to said jack means, and means operable to absorb the shock of said nailing means against the drum.

3. A semi-automatic device for nailing slats and safety strips onto a drum having a pair of essentially circular side plates, each side plate having an annular edge and being centered and rigidly mounted on an essentially cylindrical shaft, comprising an adjustable supporting means for supporting said drum with the shaft thereof in a substantially hori- Zontal'position, including roller means for supporting said shaft thereon, holding means for holding said roller means, jack means operatively connected with said holding means and operable to adjust the height of said holding means,

driving means for rotating said drum about said shaft including pneumatic tire wheel means positioned on a side of said drum and operable to frictionally engage with said side plates and a first electric motor for driving said tire Wheel means, nailing means positioned adjacent the annular edge of each of said side plates including a second electric motor and operable to drive nails radially into the edge of said side plates, slat positioning means operable to guide said slats into position close to the edge of said side plates between said nailing means and said side plates, means for supplying safety strips against the outer surfaces of said slats opposite the edge of said side plates, automatic control means for automatically controlling said driving means and said nailing means in dependence on the sequential feeding of and the width of said slats including contact-or means operatively connected with said first and second electric motors and having follower means following the profile of each slat positioned by said positioning means, said tollower means including a lever, roller means secured to said lever and a triggering rod mechanically connected to said lever, said automatic control means being resiliently pressed against the edge of said drum and having feeler means riding on the outer surface of the slats, and an adjusting rod capable to displace the working point of said contactor means, said feeler means being mechanically connected with said adjusting rod.

4. A semi-automatic device according to claim 3, comprising further roller means provided on the side of the drum opposite to said pneumatic tire wheel means and operable to guide the drum in such a manner that the edge of the side-plates is continually positioned in front of said automatic nailing means, said holding means of the first adjustable supporting means including a table, a slide block, means including roller bearings for mounting said table on said slide block, the axes of said roller bearings being perpendicular to the direction of said shaft, said slide block being secured to said jack means,

and means operable to absorb the shock of said nailing' means against said drum.

5. A semi-automatic device for nailing slats onto a drum having a plurality of essentially circular sideplates, each having an edge and being centered and rigidly mounted on an essentially cylindrical member, compristwo supports, for supporting saiddrum with the axis thereof in a substantially horizontal position, said supports being adjustable toward and away from each other and in height,

driving means for rotating said drum about said axis,

nailing means operable to drive nails radially into the edge of said side plates,

slat positioning means operable to guide said slats into position close to the edge of said side plates between said nailing means and said side plates,

control means for automatically controlling said driving means and said nailing means in dependence on the sequential feeding of and the width of said slats.

6., A semi-automatic device for nailing slatsand safety strips onto a drum having a pair of essentially circular side plates, each side plate having an annular edge and being centered and rigidly mounted on an essentially cylindrical shaft comprising,

two supports for supporting said drum by the ends of said shaft with the axis thereof in a substantially horizontal position, said supports being adjustable toward and away from each other and in height, driving means, for rotating said drum about said axis while positioned on said supports,

nailing means positioned adjacent the annular edge of each of said side plates operable to drive nails radially int-o the edge of said side plates,

slat positioning means operable to guide said slats into position close to the edge of said side plates between said nailing means and said side plates,

means for supplying safety strips against the outer surface of said slats opposite the edges of said side plates,

and control means for automatically controlling said driving means and said nailing means in dependence on the sequential feeding of and the width of said slats.

7. A semi-automatic device for nailing slats and safety strips onto a drum having a pair of essentially circular side plates, each side plate having an annular edge and being centered and rigidly mounted on an essentially cylindrical shaft, comprising.

two supports for supporting the ends of the shaft of said drum with the axis therof in a substantially horizontal position, said supports being adjustable toward and away from each other and in height, means for pulling said drum onto said supports, driving means including a first electric motor for rotating said drum about said shaft while positioned on said supports,

nailing means positioned adjacent the annular edge of each of said side plates including a second electric motor and operable to drive nails radially into the edge of said side plates,

slat positioning means operable to guide said slats into position close to the edge of :said side plates, between said nailing means and said side plates, means for supplying'safety strips against the outer surfaces of said slats and opposite the edges of said side plates,

automatic control means for automatically controlling said driving means and said nailing means, includings means, including contactor means operatively connected with said first and second electric motors and follower means following the profile of the slats positioned by said positioning means and operable to actuate said contractor means.

8. A semi-automatic device for nailing slats and safety strips onto a drum having a pair of essential circular side plates, each side plate having an annular edge and being faces of said slats opposite the edges of said side centered and rigidly mounted on an essentially cylindrical plates, member having an axis, comprising automatic control means for automatically controlling two Supports f Supporting Said drum i h the i said driving means and said nailing means including thereof in a substantially horizontal position, said 5 contactor means p f' y Connecteq Wlth Said supports being adjustable toward and away from each first and m elecmc motors and havmg Q P I other and in height, means following the profile of each slat positioned means for pulling said drum onto Said Supports, by said positioning means, said follower means including a lever, roller means secured to said lever 10 and a triggering rod mechanically connected to said lever, said automatic control means being resiliently pressed against the edge of said drum and having feeler means riding in the outer surface of slats, an adjusting rod operable to displace th Working driving means including a first electric motor for retating said drum about said axis while positioned on said supports,

nailing means positioned adjacent the annular edge of each of said side plates including a second electric motor Operable drive nails radially into the edge 15 point of said contactor means, and feeler means be- Of Said Side P 4 ing mechanically connected with said adjusting rod. slat positioning means operable to guide said slats into position close to the edge of said side plates, between No references cued said nailing means and said side plates, means for supplying safety strips against the outer sur- 20 GRANVILLE CUSTER Pnmm'y Exammer 

1. A SEMI-AUTOMATIC DEVICE, FOR NAILING SLATS AND SAFETY STRIPS ONTO A DRUM HAVING A PLURALITY OF ESSENTIALLY CIRCULAR SIDE PLATES, EACH SIDE PLATE HAVING AN ANNULAR EDGE AND BEING CENTERED AND RIGIDLY MOUNTED ON AN ESSENTIALLY CYLINDRICAL SHAFT, COMPRISING. TWO SUPPORTS FOR SUPPORTING SAID DRUM WITH THE SHAFT THEREOF IN A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL POSITION INCLUDING ROLLER MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAID SHAFT, HOLDING MEANS FOR HOLDING SAID ROLLER MEANS, JACK MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTED WITH SAID HOLDING MEANS TO ADJUST THE HEIGHT OF SAID HOLDING MEANS, DRIVING MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID DRUM ABOUT SAID SHAFT, INCLUDING PNEUMATIC TIRE WHEEL MEANS POSITIONED ON A SIDE OF SAID DRUM AND OPERABLE TO FRICTIONALLY ENGAGE WITH SAID SIDE PLATES AND A FIRST ELECTRIC MOTOR FOR DRIVING SAID TIRE WHEEL MEANS, NAILING MEANS POSITIONED ADJACENT THE ANNULAR EDGE OF EACH OF SAID SIDE PLATES INCLUDING A SECOND ELECTRIC MOTOR AND OPERABLE TO DRIVE NAILS RADIALLY ONTO THE EDGE OF SAID SIDE PLATES, SLAT POSITIONING MEANS OPERABLE TO GUIDE SAID SLATS INTO POSITION CLOSE TO THE EDGE OF SAID SIDE PLATES, BETWEEN SAID NAILING MEANS AND SAID SIDE PLATES, MEANS FOR SUPPLYING SAFETY STRIPS AGAINST THE OUTER SURFACE OF SAID SLATS OPPOSITE THE EDGE OF SAID SIDE PLATES, AUTOMATIC CONTROL MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY CONTROLLING SAID DRIVING MEANS AND SAID NAILING MEANS INCLUDING CONTACTOR MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTED WITH SAID FIRST AND SECOND ELECTRIC MOTORS AND HAVING FOLLOWER MEANS FOLLOWING THE PROFILE OF EACH SLAT POSITIONED BY SAID POSITIONING MEANS, SAID FOLLOWER MEANS INCLUDING A LEVER, ROLLER MEANS SECURED TO SAID LEVER, AND A TRIGGERING ROD MECHANICALLY CONNECTED TO SAID LEVER, SAID AUTOMATIC CONTROL MEANS BEING RESILIENTLY PRESED AGAINST THE EDGE OF SAID DRUM AND HAVING FEELER MEANS RIDING IN THE OUTER SURFACE OF THE SLATS, AN ADJUSTING ROD OPERABLE TO DISPLACE THE WORKING POINT OF SAID CONTACTOR MEANS, AND FEELER MEANS BEING MECHANICALLY CONNECTED WITH SAID ADJUSTING ROD. 